Jeffrey Immelt

“The committee judges that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy,” the Federal Open Market Committee said today in a statement in Washington, removing a calendar-based phrase with language that gives it more flexibility

U.S. stocks rose, with benchmark gauges poised for a sixth weekly gain, as investors assessed data on factory production amid growing speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain the pace of its monthly bond buying.

The economy in the U.S. unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter, restrained by the biggest plunge in defense spending in four decades and dwindling inventory growth, as household purchases picked up.